Correspondents and Haaretz
Service An Israeli arrested last month on
suspicion of trying to obtain fake New
Zealand passports
entered the country on a
Canadian passport, according to allegations made in
a New Zealand courtroom that were quoted Thursday
in a Canadian newspaper.

New Zealand officials informed state media that
they suspect that Uri Kelman, 30, is a
Mossad agent. Police presented information in court
alleging that Kelman entered New Zealand in 1999
with a Canadian passport, despite Israel's 1997
promise to Canada
that passports from that country would not be used
in undercover operations.

According to Canada's National Post,
Kelman spent eight weeks in New Zealand and then
departed for Melbourne, Australia, using a
temporary Canadian passport attained during his
stay in New Zealand.

The National Post quoted Reynald Doiron,
a spokesman for Canada's Department of Foreign
Affairs, as saying: "We're aware of the
allegations, or the alleged information, that
surfaced in the court case in New Zealand. Nothing
else can be added at this time."

In a botched attempt to
target top Hamas official Khaled Mashal
in Jordan in 1997, Mossad agents were found to
have used Canadian passports in undercover
operations. After the incident, Israel
apologized to Canada and promised not to use
Canadian passports again.

Three days ago, New Zealand Prime Minister
Helen Clark and senior government officials
in the country moderated their remarks regarding
the "passport affair" after an attorney
representing one of the four accused men said his
client would not be able to receive a fair
trial.

The decision also came after Acting Foreign
Affairs Minister Jim Sutton disclosed
details of a conversation held two weeks ago with
Israel's acting ambassador to Australia and New
Zealand, Orna Sagiv.

In an interview with the New Zealand
Herald, Sutton said he had demanded that the
Israeli government return any false New Zealand
passports it might have, and demanded that Sagiv
report to New Zealand on any activities pertaining
to New Zealand passports.

Foreign Ministry sources in Jerusalem on
Wednesday criticized the interview that Sutton had
granted, in which he detailed the content of his
conversation with Sagiv. One of the ministry
sources claimed the New Zealand government was
trying to "make political capital" from the
incident, and was violating the rules of the
diplomatic game.